Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of Short Fibre Reinforced GFRP Laminates

Abstract The influence of reinforced short fibers on the interlaminar fracture toughness of unidirectional laminate is studied. The glass fiber laminates are fabricated by using neat as well as the reinforced epoxy resin system by hand lay-up technique. Double cantilever beam test in combination with modified beam theory is employed to determine the interlaminar fracture toughness (GIc) of the laminates. The load vs. crosshead displacement plots indicates stable crack propagation during the tests with higher crack growth resistance in case of short fibre reinforced specimens. Optical images show that the addition of fillers enhances fiber bridging which results in ~ 26 % increase in the GIc value of the laminate in the reinforced case.